


i’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout your touch

by petalswriting



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 23:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21108074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petalswriting/pseuds/petalswriting
Summary: WIPStiles is a naturally touchy person, it's something everyone around him has come to accept. Only, it seems Derek never got the memo that Stiles' tactile tendencies extended beyond himself. So, he's reasonably upset when this little tidbit comes to light. What follows isn't exactly spectacular, either.Or:Derek gets jealous when he notices his totally-platonic-not-at-all-romantic-friend casually touching the other main alpha of their little pack. Stiles misunderstands, but does his best to help. (Of course).





	i’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout your touch

**Author's Note:**

> title from "crush" by tessa violet.  
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this whole thing is an entirely self-indulgent, trope-infested little plotbunny that i whipped up without proofreading or beta checking so all mistakes are mine  
-  
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.  
I do not give permission for this work to be reposted, remixed, or shared in any way.

Derek understands. He _does_. Stiles is his own person- he isn't dating anyone, least of all Derek, so he's free to touch anyone and everyone he so pleases. Derek gets that.

It doesn't stop him from being pissed off about it, though.

See, it started with little things- Stiles gripping Scott's arm when he laughed really hard, or bumping his knee into Erica's when he referenced an inside joke- but then it escalated. It became things like tousling with Isaac when he'd playfully steal Stiles' phone, or grabbing Jackson's hands to better get his attention, or leaning against Lydia's shoulder when he was tired, which all caused Derek's blood to boil for reasons unknown to him. Really, it was kind of ridiculous. Because, even if Derek did like Stiles like that, which he _didn't_, the pack were basically family, and Stiles' intentions were never really flirtatious. Though, his casual flirting with all his friends, even outside of the pack, bothered Derek as well. Or, at least, it would. If Derek were pining after Stiles. Which he isn't.

Anyway, it was kind of a rude awakening for Derek to realize that Stiles was so casually tactile with people besides himself. He thought he might be special to Stiles in some way, which only serves to make him more upset the more he sees Stiles interact with people like that. And, sure, he knows it's conceited, but _damnit_ he wanted to have this!

Obviously, he was being unrealistic and unfair to Stiles, so there's really nothing for it. Derek just has to suck it up and ignore the feelings he may or may not have, because they obviously aren't reciprocated. He was just projecting his own desires onto Stiles' innocent actions. Kind of a dick move, really. 

* * *

It's around 6pm, the entire pack lounging in the Hale basement with the usual banter and conversation floating around, and Derek is about to lose his mind. All because of one Stiles Stilinski, who will _not take his hand out of Scott's hair. _They've been sitting there, not quite watching whatever cheap horror flick Erica put on this time for well over an hour now, and Scott has been sat between Stiles' legs, chatting with the omega as he runs his fingers absently through his friend's hair, the entire time. 

Derek knows it's irrational to be jealous, the two are best friends after all, but he cant help it, okay? No matter what he tells himself about Stiles and Scott only being friends and nothing more- practically brothers, really- there's still that nagging voice at the back of his head saying _what if?_ that's just impossible to ignore. And seeing them, so familiar and comfortable, Stiles looking ridiculously content while he _pets another alpha_, is sending Derek's wolf into a frenzy. His wolf doesn't care that Stiles isn't technically theirs, that humans are much more flippant with touch than weres, all it knows is that their omega is showing an obscene amount of physical affection to another alpha and he cannot stand for it. Additionally, unbeknownst to him, he's been letting out a subvocal growl for the past five minutes, a sound only other alphas can hear, one that they all have been taught to take as a warning.

It's Erica's indiscreet cough that breaks Derek from the trance he had fallen into while glaring daggers at Scott and Stiles. As he blearily looks around, he notices the other alphas in the room looking edgy and wary, while the omegas and betas simply look confused, Stiles most of all, who just recently began staring directly at Derek. Oh god.

The omega breaks eye contact to look down at Scott, who was giving Derek a similarly quizzical look before he, too, glances at his companion. They appear to have a silent conversation entirely through facial expressions before Stiles ends it with a shrug, leaning back in is chair and resuming his hair stroking, this time paying more attention to the movie as the rest of the pack also fall into relative silence. 

And just like that, the growling picks up again, causing Scott to whip his head over toward Derek before the other alpha cuts off with a cough as he feels his cheeks heat. He stares resolutely at the television, just barely picking up Scott and Stiles' quiet conversation.

"What the hell, man?" Stiles whispers, though the effect is lost on a room comprised primarily of alphas (and werewolves to boot), whose hearing is notably keener that their omega and beta counterparts.

From the corner of his eye, Derek sees Scott hesitate for a moment, confusion still evident in his features, before huffing and leaning further into Stiles, much to Derek's chagrin. "Alpha stuff." He mumbles. Stiles doesn't seem satisfied, as he continues to poke and prod at Scott for an answer, but eventually he huffs and accepts it. The rest of the movie is spent in a borderline uncomfortable quiet.

Eventually, the pack begins to slowly trickle out to go back to their respective houses for dinner and homework. Derek almost starts up again when he sees that Scott is giving Stiles a ride home, presumably to spend the night and "study" together. Ugh.

It's while Derek is sitting in his room, having skipped dinner with a lame excuse of a stomach ache given to his mother, that he decides he really needs to get this in check.

* * *

Lunch the next day is tense, even the betas have picked up on it, and the pack's usual table is eerily quiet compared to the rest of the cafeteria. The whole pack seems to have figured out that last night's events seemed to have something to do with Scott and Derek, with the exception of Stiles, of course, who comes crashing into the only empty seat late with his bag thrown haphazardly over his shoulder. The seat he falls into is between Derek and Jackson and across from Scott, so that helps to appease Derek's agitated mood only slightly, but the words out of his mouth next put Derek right back on edge.

"So is anyone gonna tell me what alpha bullshit went down last night, or am I just gonna have to die of curiosity, right here in this filthy cafeteria?" He demands, shattering the carefully preserved quiet that the pack had maintained thus far. "Because, listen, I've been pestering Scott all day but he won't budge, and it has _literally_ been killing me! So someone buck up and spill before I lose my mind." He casts an appraising glance at the rest of the table, eyes lingering on Scott meaningfully, which seems to be the alpha's breaking point.

"I don't know, Stiles, honestly!" He shouts, covering his face with his hands and missing Stiles' smug smile, "Derek just kept glaring at me and growling and it freaked me out but I don't know _why_ he was doing it!" He rushes out, pointing an accusing finger at a shocked Derek. "If you want answers, ask him! He's the one causing all the commotion."

Derek nearly snarls. "Commotion?" He demands incredulously, "I wasn't the one who kept-!" The words die in his mouth as his gaze finds Stiles, who looks absolutely enthralled by the scene playing out before him. Derek coughs and averts his eyes so he won't have to see the crestfallen expression Stiles is most definitely sporting over not getting what he wants. "It was nothing, okay?" He looks back up at the pack, each of them glancing away for some reason or another to avoid his gaze, all except Stiles, who still looks absolutely devastated about not having this little piece of information. Derek sighs and carries on, "I've just been.. off lately. It doesn't have anything to do with any of you, and I'm sure it'll blow over soon. So, until then, can we just ignore it? Please?" He looks imploringly at his packmates, who seem reluctant to take his words at face value, but accept it all the same.

Tentatively, the conversations start up and drone along as comfortingly as always, and Derek can eat his meal in peace, ignoring the lingering tension in the air.

He also pointedly ignores Stiles and Scott playing footsie under the table while they joke about the latest episode of whatever tv show they've both been watching.

It's a long lunch period.

* * *

It's the next week, at a pack meeting (read: group hang in Derek's mom's basement, sanctioned by Derek's mom) that Derek gets an idea. Granted, it isn't great- barely even passable as a plan, really- but his wolf is driving him mad with all this _Stiles is ours and we must not share him_ business, so caution has been thrown to the wind. Not to mention that Stiles and Scott have been spending more time together lately, some science project or something, which is way more than Derek was even initially comfortable with.

He sees the perfect time to execute the aforementioned hardly-even-deserves-to-be-called-a-plan about halfway through the meeting, when Scott is switching out _Sleepaway Camp_ for what Stiles claims to be a much shittier sequel. At this point, many people, including Stiles, are getting up to refresh snacks and drinks, so Derek finds his time to strike.

The lounge area was mostly empty, save for Jackson and Lydia in the loveseat and Scott struggling to figure out the old dvd player Mrs. Hale let them bring down so long ago. As covertly as possible, Derek stands up, stretching (because that's what people do when they stand, right? God, if Stiles could hear this inner monologue, he'd accuse Derek of being a bodysnatcher) and calmly strode across the room to sit in the empty spot next to where Stiles had been sitting. Jackson and Lydia are too wrapped up in each other to notice the change, but Scott glances back at him with a suspicious squint to his eyes. Derek holds his gaze steadily, though the effect is mostly lost when he knows everyone in the room can hear his rabbiting heart. Still, Scott was sitting at Stile's feet again anyway, so he has no right to question Derek's seating choices. Hell, it's Derek's basement! He can sit wherever he wants, it doesn't matter what-

His self-rationalizing is interrupted when he hears Stiles' familiar uneven gait coming down the stairs at an unsafe speed, just as Scott seems to have figured out the movie. Derek holds his breath as Stiles pauses at the bottom of the stairs, keeping his eyes locked on the movie's opening logos. After a few seconds that felt like hours to Derek, Stiles seems to make up his mind and plop back into the seat next to Derek, Scott taking his usual place by the omega's legs.

Derek lets out a quiet sigh of relief as the opening credits begin, but he grows stiff as Stiles' hand finds its way into Scott's unruly mop of hair once more. He hadn't thought this plan through very well, in retrospect, because now he was just very close to the exact thing that had been making him so upset in the first place. Great.

Apparently, what Stiles had since deemed "The Grumpy Alpha Growl" had begun emanating from Derek again, because there's a crackling tension flowing through the air when Derek takes his attention off Stiles' hands in Scott's hair. He notices the rigid line of Scott's back, and it seems that Stiles has, too, because when Derek risks a glance over at him, the omega's gaze is flitting between his own hand and Derek's irritated expression. Just as Derek is about to excuse himself to go jump out of a window or beg the ground to swallow him up, Stiles' face lights up in the way it does when he's convinced he's had a fantastic idea that usually isn't all that fantastic.

Before Derek can leave the room, for his safety and Scott's, Stiles rests the popcorn bowl he'd previously been holding on his lap, wipes the butter on his fingers off on his shirt, and.. and _buries his fingers in Derek's hair oh lord_. 

Derek immediately melts at the attention, his wolf preening under his skin, and he actually lays his head back and closes his eyes with the quietest groan he can manage, so as not to disturb the rest of the pack (or humiliate himself further). Stiles' long, slender fingers send sparks of pleasure down Derek's spine with every little scratch and tug they make, and Derek can't even find it within himself to be embarrassed at this point. Mostly driven by instinct, he leans into the omega's touch, the admittedly bad movie becoming white noise as he's consumed by the simple pleasure of his omega's hands against his skin. His head falls against Stiles' shoulder, eyes fluttering as a deep, rumbling purr comes from his chest. He doesn't even pick up on Stiles' fond chuckle, he's so enthralled by the contact.

Before Derek knows it, the movie is over, and the pack are all making various excuses to leave the house, even Scott, but only after giving a meaningful look to Stiles.

Derek doesn't actually notice any of this, as he fell into an almost dreamlike trance the moment Stiles touched him. Which, really, is pretty incriminating on the whole "not in love with Stiles" front. He only emerges from his bliss when he feels the omega's legs begin to jiggle and twitch against the couch, though his gentle massaging never wavers.

With a rough cough, Derek shoots up, startling Stiles with the sudden movement. He averts his gaze, unsure of how to proceed from here; after all, he basically pouted his way under Stiles' hands.

Luckily, as seems to always be the case, Stiles pipes up first. "Better now?" He asks with a playful smile, a teasing edge to his tone that would've seemed malicious coming from anyone besides Stiles wearing that_ stupid_ sweet grin.

Derek just clears his throat again. "Uh, yeah- I mean.. er, thanks?" He tries, finally raising his eyes to meet Stiles'.

The omega simply waves it off, "No sweat, dude." He nudges Derek with his elbow as though they're in on a joke nobody else is. "At least we've finally gotten to the bottom of this whole growly alpha business, though. Right?" He keeps his eyes on Derek, clearly expecting an answer.

The alpha raises his eyebrows in question, discreetly trying to keep his breathing and heartbeat even, because this is it. Stiles figured out Derek's secret and they'll never be able to have the same friendship again. Instead of spilling all of this out, like he wants to, Derek goes with the safer option of "Uh, we have?"

Stiles laughs like Derek is missing all of this on purpose. "Yeah, obviously." He snorts. "You're an alpha of a pack, sharing part of that power with another alpha, and you got jealous." Derek's heart stops. "Jealous that one of the omegas seemed to be favoring the other alpha." He finishes with a nod, as though confirming his own point. "I read about werewolf pack dynamics a lot after the first little incident, and they all basically said the same thing: ' make the alphas feel equal to each other'. Bam, no more power struggle, plenty of omega head scratches to go around." He grins over at Derek as though he'd cracked the case. Which.. wasn't entirely untrue, Derek supposes.

Sure, it wouldn't be great, having to share Stiles, but at least Derek would be included.. right? It was better than nothing, in any case.

Derek just nods his head and purses his lips. "Yeah, got it in one." he says lamely, averting his eyes.

Stiles jumps up with a victory fist pump. "I knew it!" He whoops proudly, turning to grab his bag from its place beside the couch. "Y'know, these things would be so much easier if you just talked about 'em, man." He adds with a little head shake. "Anyway, I really do gotta go, Scott's probably ravaged half my kitchen by now, waiting on me." He chuckles fondly. "Catch ya later, Der!" He calls, giving the alpha a cursory head scritch as he passes before thumping back up the stairs. And Derek, god damnit, he _leans into it_.

Fuck, he's in deep.

* * *

The next day, at school lunch once more, Stiles seems to have strategically arranged the table so that he's sitting between Derek and Scott while across from Isaac, who's in a similar position with Jackson and Erica. Apparently, the pack is so used to Stiles' antics that they don't question the new setup, just pull some chairs to the other side so that the betas can be next to their respective partners.

Derek, however, feels his gut sink as he approaches the table to Stiles' enthusiastic wave as he proudly gestures to the table. "Check it," he grins cheekily, "perfect ratio." Derek just hums in assent as he sinks into the chair beside Stiles, ignoring Scott's bemused gaze resting like lead on his back. He'd honestly hoped the whole thing would be dropped, that the pack would ignore the entire ordeal for the sake of Derek's pride. Though, it looks like the pack was completely content to do just that, but Stiles just missed the memo. In any case, not much else changed other than the seating. 

With the exception of Stiles- oh lord, Stiles was leaning over and snatching a handful of Derek's fries, giving him a conspiratorial grin as he replaces the bit with some tater tots from his own plate. "I know you prefer 'tots over fries, and I noticed they were out by the time you got in," he explains easily. Derek's mind short-circuited for a minute, at a loss for what to make of the sudden familiarity, before a sudden realization hits him. 

Casual physical displays of affection, food sharing and providing, right down to arranging the more domestic aspects of the pack, like a lunchtime seating arrangement that might make the Alpha feel more at ease. Oh, come on.

_"I read about pack dynamics a lot.."_ Stiles had said this only last night. Which means he was probably reading more specifically about _werewolf_ pack dynamics, which were notably different than those of humans. It's with a sinking feeling in his stomach that Derek decides there must've been some misunderstanding on Stiles' part on what roles are played by the omega(s) of the pack. Because, in most werewolf-oriented dynamic books, the omega referenced is the _Alpha's mate_. Oh no.

Admittedly, it wasn't Stiles' fault. Most 'wolf books are fairly vague when referring to pack dynamics vs. gender dynamics, so it's perfectly understandable that something was lost in translation. In fact, it would be very easy for Derek to pull Stiles aside and explain the difference to him, put a stop to the behavior before it started garnering attention from other weres. It would be quite simple, really.

Except that Derek didn't want it to stop. Which might pose a problem.

Okay, so maybe he likes Stiles acting like the Alpha Mate- like _his_ mate, sue him! Something about it pleases the primal, instinctual part of him just as much as the more rational human part. And yeah, it's kind of sick for him, the most experienced werewolf in the pack (being born a 'wolf and all), to keep this information to himself, to allow Stiles to play this part even when he doesn't really know what it is that he's doing, but he's also kind of selfish. He wants this, even if it's not real, not permanent- and how pathetic is that, really? For him to be so head-over-heels in love with this omega, who has no actual interest in him, that he'll let him play the part of his mate just so he can feel like it's real, if only for a moment? God, even Derek sorta despises himself as he thinks it.

But he still doesn't mention it to Stiles. 

Instead, he just returns with a tentative smile and a quiet "thanks," before digging into his meal.

He decidedly _does not_ think about how warm he feels knowing that Stiles went out of his way to make sure Derek had the food he prefers. He doesn't. 

* * *

Derek just had the worst epiphany. Like, the _worst_. Like, he doesn't know how it didn't occur to him before and now he can't ignore it, sort of worst. He actually feels pretty foolish for not seeing it earlier.

See, Stiles read up on werewolf pack dynamics, more specifically, dynamics in a pack with _two_ alphas. Meaning, if he was playing the role of the omega outlined in the books, he was the acting mate to both Derek _and_ Scott. Which is an absolute nightmare. Basically the entire reason they're in this situation in the first place.

In short, Derek is upset again, which is starting to seem par for the course when dealing with Stiles.

It seems that, while Stiles started acting more affectionate with Derek as a result of his research, his displays of affection toward Scott have increased tenfold. Before, it was mostly just Stiles fiddling with the other alpha's hair and maybe trading out different parts of their respective meals to better fit both their tastes, and that bothered Derek enough as it was. Now, though, it was like they were actually a _couple_ couple. Stiles would throw his arm over Scott's shoulders in the school halls, he would bring the alpha home-cooked lunches at school, and on one notable occasion, he _sat on Scott's lap _during a movie night because Erica had brought a friend over and they'd run out of seating. 

So, needless to say, Derek is less than thrilled. However, he realizes that he kinda brought this on himself, so he's the only one he can blame.. Doesn't mean he's not still bothered by it, though. And, naturally, because the universe despises him, Derek's frustration surfaces at a rather inopportune time. 


End file.
